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SimCity Review: Part 4 - Was It Fun?

This is the fourth part of our SimCity Review. Today I ask the all important question: was it fun? This encompass not only the aspect of fun, but also replay-ability, and what, if anything, should be improved.
I think much more comes into this "was it fun" than any before. Because there is no campaign or story to play through there is a huge focus on "can you play it again and still have fun" rather than "was it fun when I played it". Don't get me wrong, I think its so much fun to play, but I do think that the ability to play it over and over and over again is lost after about 20 hours unless you're a super-hardcore SimCity player. Now, this could very easily change depending on how you play. If you try to max out your region, build every city to its peak and then try to make them all work together then you have a very different game.

This is testament to how tailored to the player SimCity can be. People can play it however they like, and everyone WILL get a different experience through the game. However you want to play it (within reason) you can, and you will have a blast.

That awards bonus points for fun in my book, because the developers aren't choosing how you have fun - you, the player, gets to decide. Which is fairly unique, at least in terms of video games I've played and reviewed.

In terms of things I think should or could be improved the thing that immediately comes to mind is EA's platform that is supposed to rival Steam: Origin. I think that is something we should talk about, because, while it may not be as bad as Uplay, it really isn't good. Sadly though, you have to buy and play SimCity through EA Origin. While it doesn't impact hugely, I wish it was on Steam so I can have one less program on my computer.

Despite all these brilliant qualities I don't find myself loving this game. It doesn't make me want to return, but I can see how people would love it, it just doesn't hook me, although I do love it when I dive in.